It is intended soon to build a railroad connecting these rivers, and when this is accomplished a large area not now accessible will be open to commerce. Necessarily such trading stations will, for a while at least, need governmental protection. Hence each station will be in the nature of a military establishment, and will form also the nucleus for a future city. The Caucasian, observing, of course, certain necessary precautions, will find the climate of a large part of this section quite congenial. It is not unlike that of the tablelands of Java or of the highlands of Ceylon. Moreover, the soil no less than the forests and the mineral resources of this vicinity will offer splendid opportunities to the investor. [Sidenote: The Coming Country.] Necessarily the future of this part of the Congo, as well as that of all regions distant from the navigable rivers, is dependent upon the construction of a railway system which will bring them into touch with the rest of the world. That such railways cannot be built without a great expenditure of money is obvious, but the success of the lines already established and the enormous profits sure in the end to repay the investors are calculated to attract sooner or later the necessary capital. All who have visited this part of the Congo country are agreed that its natural resources are incomparably greater than those of any part of Europe. When developed they will excite the wonder of the world. But this result, so devoutly to be wished, involving as it does the betterment of millions of lives lately enveloped in densest ignorance, is not to be attained without some sacrifices. Capital, time, and labour must co-operate to bring about this result. [Sidenote: The Congo’s Affluents.] On the right or northern bank of the Congo are to be found several large affluents. Of these, one of the most important is the Aruwimi, which joins the Congo just below Nyangwe. The Aruwimi rises in the Blue Mountains, not far from Lake Albert Nyanza. Thence flowing westward about seven hundred miles, and gathering on its way the waters of its numerous tributaries, it is, when it reaches the Congo, a copious stream over a mile wide. Above Yambuya the navigation of the Aruwimi is rendered impossible by a succession of cataracts, that bane of the African navigator. However, the beauty and the resources of the surrounding country somewhat compensate for these hindering conditions. Here is the famous forest of Ituri, the home of a vast population and the haunt of many species of game. In and around the Ituri occurred some noted skirmishes with the mutinous Batetelas. About 150 miles west of the Aruwimi the Rubi reaches the Congo at Itembo. Rising in the Mabode about 500 miles north of Stanley Falls, it flows west and south-west for a distance of 600 miles.